Dark Roads by Katie Rush

Author:Katie Rush [Rush, Katie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-06T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Definitely not Burke’s handwriting,” Dana murmured as she studied the letter, slowly turning it over in her hands. The handwriting was a scrawl of jagged and disjointed letters, very much unlike Burke's meticulous script.

“I’m more curious to know what it’s about,” Sam said. “As far as I can tell, he’s just railing incoherently about the injustices of the criminal system. Seems like the killer is trying to send a message." His fingers drummed rhythmically against the table’s surface, his eyes not leaving the paper.

"Or he's setting up a narrative," Dana suggested, her face set in deep concentration. "Trying to make himself out as some sort of vigilante."

The letter was filled with reimagined legal codes twisted into justifications for murder, punctuated with biblical references. Taking a deep breath, Dana started at the top and began reading again.

to whom it may concern,

The system that claims to serve justice does nothing but cage the innocent and release the guilty. It is a grotesque mockery of what it purports to be, blind to truth itself. The wronged are told to trust in its machinery, yet it grinds down the ones with no voice and uplifts the wicked who know how to game the system. This cannot, this will not stand.

Today's courts are nothing more than a modern-day version of Pilate washing his hands, shrugging off responsibility onto a mob that cares little for truth or fairness. They've abandoned their duty, so it falls upon us—the witnesses—to rise against this broken system. To bear the burden of justice in their stead. That is who I am, a witness against the guilty. I am the voice of those who cannot speak, the hand that delivers justice when your corrupt courts falter.

The guilty must be held accountable. There is no redemption without confession, no absolution without penance.

Let this be a reminder of the true meaning of justice. Let this be a warning to all who evade punishment for their sins.

Sincerely

That’s where it ended—no signature, not even a nickname.

“Well,” Sam murmured, “I guess it was too much to hope that he’d use his legal name.”

Dana rubbed her chin, contemplating the letter's contents. "It's all a twisted attempt at philosophizing, rationalizing," she said, her voice laced with disgust. "He believes he's doing the right thing, that he's the only one capable of delivering justice."

"The worst kind of killers," Sam replied somberly, "are the ones who believe they're in the right and everyone else is wrong. They can justify any action, no matter how terrible."

Dana nodded, her brow furrowed in deep thought. "Even the murder of Tyler Elliot, who didn't commit the crime he was accused of."

She turned back to the letter, studying it once again. As much as Dana despised the way this killer twisted justice and law to his own ends, she knew that understanding his thought process was crucial to their investigation.

"Why do you think he sent this?" Sam asked, breaking the silence that had begun to settle in the room.

Dana pursed her lips, her gaze flicking between the letter and her partner.

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